Best Trout Rivers In Ontario
Ontario is blessed with hundreds of rivers and streams that have wild self sustaining populations of trout. The best trout rivers in Ontario for brown are found in Southern Ontario, while Northern Ontario has some of the best brook trout rivers in the world.
The Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources (OMNR) even recognizes about 159 brown trout streams, most of which are in Southern Ontario, many also have native brook trout. There are probably hundreds or even thousands more little creeks and streams spread out all over Ontario that have brook trout in them.
Northern Ontario is littered with little back-creeks with brook trout in them.
About Southern Ontario’s Best Trout Streams
There are even a few streams in Southern Ontario with wild or stocked rainbow trout, too.
Many of these same trout rivers enter into the Great Lakes, and many also have migratory rainbow trout, migratory brown trout, and salmon in the lower sections.
These trout rivers are spread out all over Southern Ontario, from the far southern Lake Erie rivers to the far Eastern Rivers of Lake Ontario to the more northern rivers of Georgian Bay.
Because I’m not an expert on Northern Ontario rivers, this webpage only covers Southern Ontario rivers and streams.
Some of our Southern Ontario trout rivers are large enough to get a canoe or small boat through, while others are so small you could jump across them.
This gives anglers the opportunity to fish all kinds of different water, from fast rapid sections to slow swampy flat water and everything in between.
What often makes a river one of the best is not just the fact that there are lots of fish in it, but it needs to be accessible.
That is why only the larger, more popular, and more accessible rivers and creeks are listed on this page.
The list below is some of the bigger more popular rivers in Southern Ontario.
Some of the best fishing for trout on the bigger rivers occurs up in the highest portions of the headwaters or the smaller tributaries of these rivers.
There are some smaller tributaries that the steelhead can get up, but the lower portions of the rivers are often best if you want steelhead and salmon.
NOTICE: many of the rivers listed on this website have extensive private property sections, and landowners have notified me that they will charge people for trespassing. If there are signs posted, DO NOT TRESPASS. There is also no such thing as a high water mark in Ontario.
Therefore, if your feet are on dry land along the edge of a river, you can be charged with trespassing, and it doesn’t matter how high the river gets.
Many landowners often tell me that the primary issues they have with anglers are littering, poaching, and disrespectful anglers.
If there weren’t so many anglers littering and more anglers picking up garbage from the jerks that litter, we would have more places to fish.
A LIST OF THE BEST TROUT RIVERS IN ONTARIO
Click to view more.
- The Beatty Saugeen River
- The Beaver River
- The Bighead River
- The Boyne River
- The Credit River
- The Grand River
- The Humber River
- The Mad River
- The Noisy River
- The Nottawasaga River
- The Pine River
- The Saugeen River
- The Sydenham River
The Best Lake Ontario Rivers
Oshawa Creek
Duffins Creek
Bowmanville Creek
Wilmot Creek
Ganaraska River
Cobourg Creek
Cold Creek
Rouge River
Bronte Creek
16 Mile Creek
The Best Georgian Bay Trout Rivers
Cold Water River
Nottawasaga
Beaver River
Bighead River
Sydenham River
The Best Lake Huron Trout Rivers Of Ontario
Sauble River
Saugeen River
Maitland River
Nine Mile River
Bayfield River
The Best Lake Erie Trout Rivers In Ontario
Big Creek
Grand River
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Guide Tip: Just because you know where to fish doesn’t mean you will catch trout. Presentation, the method you use, the gear, and your setup can all make a huge difference in catching trout. Even the line you use matters.
Go Wet A Line,
Graham